Unknown language found in Malaysia

A previously-undiscovered indigenous language in Malaysia reflects a way of life where the sexes enjoy great equality and there is little violence, researchers have found, prompting activists Wednesday to demand better protection for tribes people.

Linguists discovered Jedek, which is spoken by only 280 people, during a project which saw them visit remote villages to collect data from different groups in the northern state of Kelantan.

The team from Sweden's Lund University were studying the previously-known language of Jahai in a remote village surrounded by forest -- where people live in wooden houses on stilts -- when they realised a large number of people were speaking something different.

Niclas Burenhult, one of the researchers, said that anthropologists had studied the same hunter-gatherer community in the past but the linguists asked different questions, leading them to discover the language.

Jedek reflects a way of life where there was greater equality between men and women than in Western societies, almost no violence and children are encouraged not to compete, according to Lund University.